Soldier

Do not judge it by the cover

Full disclosure here.

The reason why I am featuring "Star Wars" (2015) TPB #2 and #3 together, is because the cover of the third issue is probably the ugliest cover of a comic book I saw. EVER.

And I really couldn't think how to have that... thing *alone* in a picture.

Contentwise, though, I truly enjoyed both issues.

The Obi-Wan tales in the second and third TPB (originally published in #7 and #15) are little treasures. Simone Bianchi's art is very peculiar, but, in my opinion, beautiful. The very different, hyper-realistic style of Mike Mayhew is also noteworthy, even if I personally do not like how he represented Obi and Luke.

Both of these brief stories are a glimpse of what to expect from the Obi-Wan series next year: solitude, angst, remorse.

A LOT of family drama.

And a LOT of time to think.

[Hopefully flash-backs, yadda-yadda, Hayden, yadda-yadda]

I found particularly interesting the fact that Obi-Wan respects and kind of understands Owen's categorical denial in allowing any training for Luke (I will speak more extensively about Jedi training/family choices in another post).

And I absolutely adored seeing a little more of the "poor-uncle-Owen".

Barely speaking, grumpy, then suddenly flambé (the irony!), in the movies he seems not even deserve Luke's mourning, as he is more upset by the death of "I-know-you-since-two-days-Ben" than of his 19 years adoptive father (!).

Owen has the potential to be a very solid character, with motivation and will.

I truly hope for further development in the series.

The original issues 8-12 are illustrated by Immonen: the art is good, and I always appreciate it when the characters do look like the original actors.

Also: lightsabers.

A LOT of lightsabers.

The panel with Han, Leia, and Chewie ready to battle with the laser swords is pretty epic in my book. And seeing the young Leia with a (blue) lightsaber gave me chills.

Also, I love Sana.

Although I do not read Doctor Aphra, I truly appreciated the introduction of a canonical non-straight character.

Representation truly matters, and I am here to fight every day whoever says otherwise.

PS. Vader is superb, once again.

We shall

“But I’ve got a better idea,” she said. “We’ve got at least a few days, more likely a week. Why don’t you come to the Irizi homestead with me?”

“To your homestead?” Thrawn echoed. “Are strangers even allowed?” A muscle in his cheek twitched. “Especially strangers from rival families?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Ziara said. “I’m blood, and I’m an honored member of the fleet who just helped save eight thousand lives. I don’t know how far all that will take me, but I’d rather like to find out. You game to find out with me?”

“I don’t know,” Thrawn said hesitantly. “I don’t want you to get in trouble on my behalf.”

“I’m not worried about it,” Ziara said. “Did I mention that my grandfather was an amazingly passionate art collector?”

Thrawn smiled. “If I haven’t mentioned it recently, Ziara, you have a knack for seeking out and exploiting your opponents’ weaknesses. Very well. Shall we once again charge headlong into danger?"

"We shall," Ziara said. “Besides, we’ve just survived an encounter with a malicious gas giant planet. Really, how bad could my family be?”

~

There is just one thing in all the canon Thrawn books that I love almost as much as Thrawn himself.

The relationship between Thrawn and Ar'alani.

They are the purest representation of what, for me, a true friendship should be. Love, honesty, support. Being there, for that person that is the extension of your soul, no matter the time, the distance, the odds.

And, although I did not dive into "Greater Good" yet, "Chaos" and "Treason" are hymns to their relationship.

Which is truly magnificent to read.

So, starting from today, I will spend more than a few weeks reporting beautiful moments in their strong and wonderful partnership, lasting decades and light-years.

[In the photo. My precious and priceless treasure: the Ar'alani custom Funko Pop by @poppourrico, absolutely one of the most perfect things I own]

Heroes not villains

"We of the fleet like to think of ourselves as heroes. Often, though, the true heroes are those who design and build the warships we take into battle."

[Yes, this is Thrawn speaking]

Share some love for your engineers today, would you?

[They are not villains too].

[In the photo: a not original Thrawn minifig, that probably will break a friendship that lasted two decades. @fra_sprea please, I AM SORRY for this. We still can be friends, right?]

"I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer-born under the second law of thermodynamics, steeped in the steam tables, in love with free-body diagrams, transformed by Laplace, and propelled by compressible flow. As an engineer, I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession. [...] which leaves its imprint on our society in countless ways. [...]

So should not the world admire and respect them? Answer: Only occasionally. Many of our fellow citizens are mistrustful of logic and critical of technocrats, and often with reason. Bridges fail, airplanes crash, storage tanks leak, radiation escapes, and automobiles are recalled. Such failures are reported widely, and the search for whom to blame is initiated. [...] We are mistrusted because we are perceived as being slaves to technology, as technocrats who don't care a whit about the environment or safety or human values. And I reject those criticisms.

In my experience, engineers aren't really bad folks. A little too focused, maybe too intense for some, but they are as caring and concerned as other segments of our society. [...]

And in all honestly, I am guilty of a bit of subterfuge. [...] What I really hoped to do was shamelessly use this occasion to remind you of the breadth, and the depth, and the importance of engineering as a whole to human existence, human progress, and human happiness."

Neil A. Armstrong, National Press Club, February 22, 2000.

The companion

Tea time

To thine ownself be true

"Give thy thoughts no tongue,

Nor any unproportioned thought his act.

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.

Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,

Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;

But do not dull thy palm with entertainment

Of each new-hatch’d, unfledged comrade. Beware

Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,

Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee.

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;

Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;

For the apparel oft proclaims the man,

And they in France of the best rank and station

Are of a most select and generous chief in that.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be;

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

This above all: to thine ownself be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man."

This is, obviously, not a spoiler.

Maybe just a part of that Thrawn who lives in my brain.

Definitely, a part of 𝘮𝘦.

[Literally, because it is partially tattooed on my arm]

I might be a little cryptic, and I am sorry.

But I genuinely want to thank everyone that was hyper today because of these wonderful, imaginary, characters.

And shared a joy, that became my joy.

[Photo: "Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy - Greater Good" by Timothy Zahn]